While You Were Away
by Luce Red
Summary: Back from a trip, Touya Akira is perplexed by his wardrobe. Touya's clothes are not his strong point.


Title: While You Were Away  
Author: Luce Red  
Series: Hikaru no Go  
Disclaimer: Characters are the property of Hotta and Obata.  
Notes/Type: General fic.  
Summary: Touya's clothes are not his strong point.

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Twenty minutes after he reached home, Touya Akira was puzzled. He was sure he had placed his favorite sweater on the top shelf of his wardrobe. It was one of his oldest items of clothing: a bit old-fashioned, perhaps (he had caught Hikaru frowning at it) but still comfortable, and he liked it.

He looked again, and noticed something he had not seen just now. Something small and black, that gleamed with a familiar light. He reached out and took it between his fingers, almost automatically. It was a Go stone.

Touya was fairly sure he was not in the habit of dropping Go stones around in his wardrobe. He puzzled over the stone for a few seconds, before putting it into his pocket. It was one of the cheaper glass stones, probably from the portable set he had taken from the Go salon, but it would not do to lose a stone, nonetheless. He would put it back in the go-ke later. Right now, he decided to hang up his suit instead, and sort out the rest of his belongings in the overnight bag. He was not a 'neat-freak', as Shindou would say; it simply made sense to keep one's belongings in proper order, and it made packing up for working trips so much easier.

Ten minutes later, Touya stared in perplexity at his wardrobe. His older suit, the lavender one, was missing, but he found a black Go stone in the corner of the place he normally hung his suits. His mustard tie with the brown stripes had disappeared, too, and tucked between two dark blue ones was another Go stone. His purple-and-white striped button-up shirt was gone, and there was a Go stone neatly taped to the empty hanger. Even the blue-and-pink diamond-patterned sweater vest that Shindou swore made him looked 'stupid' had outright disappeared, though Akira remembered hanging it behind a summer jacket. He looked, and sure enough, there was a Go stone placed on the shelf above the clothes rail.

Touya was tempted to search his room from top to bottom, just to see how many more Go stones he could turn up, when he heard the sound of the front door opening. He turned towards the living room just in time to hear a muffled curse, and a second later Shindou Hikaru appeared at the doorway.

"You're back early!" Shindou exclaimed. He looked panicked, for some reason. "I thought you were going on to Kyushu?"

"Didn't you hear? There was an earthquake," Touya said. "About 2.8, I think. No one was injured, but they had to cancel the Go event."

"Oh." Shindou was nodding, but he looked as though he had other things on his mind. "Well, then… I need to go out for a while," he said. "I… I er, I need to buy ramen!" He turned towards the living room.

"Shindou Hikaru."

It was amazing, really, how expressive Shindou's posture could be, Touya thought. At the sound of his name, the entire line of Shindou's back froze in a way that could only be described as 'guilt-stricken.' He watched as Shindou unfroze after a few seconds, to turn back with a weak-looking grin. "Yes, Touya?"

Touya reached into his pocket and took out the handful of Go stones, cupping them loosely in his right palm. "Do you have any idea why these stones are in my wardrobe?" he asked.

Shindou gave a chuckle that sounded both weak and nervous to Touya's ears. "Go stones, Touya? Why would I know anything about them?" He chuckled again. "I… I've got to go…"

"Wait," Touya said, before Shindou could take off, "I meant, do you have any idea why some of my clothes are missing, and there are Go stones in their place? Do you, Shindou?"

Shindou froze for a second, before he raised both hands in a gesture of surrender. "Yeah," he said. "It was me. I took your clothes."

"But why? You don't like my clothes anyway…"

"That's why!" Shindou retorted. "They're awful!" he burst out. "I mean," he went on, realizing what he had just said, "some of them are. I was hoping to replace them while you were in Kyushu."

Touya glanced from Shindou's earnest expression to his wardrobe, to the Go stones in his hand, and back to Shindou. "You were trying to replace my clothes?" he asked.

Shindou nodded.

"You didn't think I would notice?" he asked again.

Shindou nodded. "Yes," he said, then, "I mean, no!" He took a deep breath. "I was hoping it would be a sort of surprise, heh heh…" His voice trailed away at Touya's expression. "Er, surprise?" he said in a small voice.

Confused, Touya asked, "But why would you…"

Looking impatient, Shindou threw up his hands. "Because I can't take it anymore, okay? Those clothes are terrible, Touya. Especially that sweater with the V-neck, the one you wear all the time."

Touya bristled. "That's my favorite sweater," he said.

Shindou winced. "It's _orange_, Touya. Ochi wears orange. Do I need to go on?"

"You had no right…"

"And that purple suit!" Shindou actually shuddered; Touya watched in fascination. "Why do you think I persuaded you to bring your dark blue one to Kyushu instead? It's boring, but at least it doesn't make me want to claw my eyes out. I wanted to buy you a nice black one while you were away…"

"You bought me a suit?"

"Yes! And some decent ties, and a few normal-looking shirts. And sweaters, since you like them so much. I was going to put them into your wardrobe…"

"Shindou."

"And no more vests, I mean, really…" Shindou blinked. "What is it?"

"All right," Touya said, trying to control the sudden desire to pelt Shindou with the Go stones. "But even if you were going to replace my clothes, _why_ did you leave Go stones in their place?"

Shindou scuffed his feet on the floor. "Er, I was afraid…IwouldforgetwhatItook!"

"What?"

Shindou looked sulky. "I said, 'I was afraid I would forget what I took!' "

To his horror, Touya felt a distinctly unserious urge to laugh, and clamped down firmly on that. It made sense, in a way--if you knew Shindou. Shindou's memory was abysmal when it came to matters outside of Go, and it looked as he had decided to use Go stones to help him remember. The whole idea was rather clever for Shindou, really. Touya shook his head to indicate disapproval. "I'm not sure you should be using Go stones in such an inappropriate way," he said.

"Well, it worked," Shindou said, giving a shrug. "I'm sorry I took your clothes without your knowledge. I've left them at my parents' place; I'll bring them here tomorrow." He looked at Touya. "Are you still angry?" he asked.

Touya shook his head.

"And the replacements? Do you want them?"

"I said 'All right', didn't I?"

Shindou gave a 'phew' of relief. "Good."

Shindou, evidently, had got into the habit of using Go stones as markers for everything, Touya realized later as he looked around the living room. Shindou's copy of _The History of Go_ was bookmarked with a Go stone, and the so was his book on Go life-and-death problems. The newest schedule from the Go Institute was on the table, weighed down by a handful of stones. There was a Go stone by his mobile phone, presumably as a reminder to take it with him. And there were a couple of stones in the pantry: reminder that he were running out of instant ramen?

Shindou seemed to have Go stones in his hands at all times.

Touya told himself that he did not approve of Go stones being used so frivolously; it was like desecrating the game itself. Go stones did not belong in the kitchen. It was… inappropriate. However, when Shindou did it, it seemed… _adorable_, he thought, then shuddered. All the same, Shindou should not have interfered. Touya disliked the implication that he was incapable of dressing himself.

"What is it?" Shindou asked, settling down opposite him, before he removed the go-ke cover from the Go board and placing it by his right knee.

"Nothing," Touya said, mentally preparing himself for their game. They were using Shindou's goban rather than Touya's portable one. "Careful with the coffee, don't spill it," he reminded Shindou. He had prepared coffee for both of them and placed the cups on the little table beside the Go board.

"Thanks," Shindou said, glancing at the coffee. "Sugar?"

"In that little container at your side," he said, keeping his face neutral. Shindou liked his coffee sweet. He preferred his coffee black.

"Oh." Shindou yawned a little.

Touya watched in suppressed amusement as Shindou extracted two white Go stones from his go-ke, dropped them into his coffee and stirred it lazily.

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End file.
